


Exothermic Attraction

by TempusPetrichor



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Drift Bond, Drift Side Effects, Gen, I think? I haven't seen Uprising oops, M/M, Post-Drift (Pacific Rim), Post-Movie: Pacific Rim (2013), Pre-Slash, Science Boyfriends, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:47:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24831856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TempusPetrichor/pseuds/TempusPetrichor
Summary: “I wouldn’t worry about that. You inadequately follow safety protocols as it is; I’m sure that chalk is more sanitary than the tools you’re currently using.”“Hey, look, it’s not my fault kaiju blood doesn’t come off easy!”See also: Doctor Newton Geiszler is hot.
Relationships: Newton Geiszler & Hermann Gottlieb, Newton Geiszler/Hermann Gottlieb
Comments: 8
Kudos: 45





	Exothermic Attraction

**Author's Note:**

> So, I've been having feelings about these two lately and figured I may as well try to put my words where my heart is. I'd like to offer a disclaimer though; I haven't seen Pacific Rim in AGES and never seen Uprising before.   
> I'm always open to constructive criticism though :) Hope you enjoy it!

Newton is, well, _chaotic_ , even at the best of times. He’s unpredictable and a hazard to others and himself (especially himself). He’s somehow _adorable_ even as he’s infuriating. But most of all, Newton is predictably _warm_ , in every sense of the word. He’s open and honest (even if Hermann would prefer, at time, he’s _not_ ), but also temperature-wise _hot._ At all times. Not that Hermann has first-hand experience, but constantly rolling his sleeves up while Hermann huddles in a parka builds an obvious argument. He claims, ‘it’s just mind over matter, dude,’ but Hermann suspects it’s a biproduct of his near constant motion: including, but not limited to, dancing. 

It’s hard to even qualify it as dancing, most days. There are no set steps or rhythm behind it, something Newton claims is restricted to Hermann’s ‘stuffy’ preferences in music. It’s more wiggling and shuffling and the odd arm fling that leaves kaiju blue splattered across the walls. Combining the distraction of Newton dancing with his music blasting through the lab, it is rarely possible to concentrate. After one particularly heated disagreement, they reached a compromise: Newton uses headphones, or Hermann picks the music. Needless to say, Newton entered the lab the next day with buds dangling from his ears. It didn’t completely eliminate the disruption, as Newton still swayed and occasionally _sang_ , but it was at least a start.

This agreement works well, laxing only slightly during the _not-quite_ -end-of-the-world. They continue working together even after their Drift, after crisis is averted, trying to confirm that it is _actually over_. It’s not until a couple days after the Breach is closed, when Newton is listening to some truly awful music, that either of them realize that there are any side effects to their Drift with the infant kaiju.

“Newton, can you turn that racket _down?_ You’re giving me a headache.”

There’s no response, and Hermann turns from the equation on his chalkboard to see Newton, oblivious, moving his hips while comparing kaiju remains from before and after the closure of the Breach.

“ _Newton.”_ Still no response. Hermann wonders if the man is deliberately ignoring him, or so caught up in his work that he’s not hearing him.

“ _Newton!”_ He tosses the nub of chalk he was using towards Newton. He misses him, but the chalk lands in the center of the organ Newton has on the table, starkly white against the blue liquid seeping out.

“Dude!” Newton reaches up towards his face, brushing his glasses up and his earbuds off in one smooth motion with his forearm. “You’re contaminating my samples! _And I can’t get anymore!_ ”

“I wouldn’t worry about that. You inadequately follow safety protocols as it is; I’m sure that chalk is more sanitary than the tools you’re currently using.”

“Hey, look, it’s not my fault kaiju blood doesn’t come off easy!”

“I’m not going to discuss the necessity of proper PPE with you again, Newton. Now please, turn down your music.”

Newton scrunches his eyebrows and tilts his head (in a way that is definitely _not_ endearing). He is a textbook example of confusion.

“Herms, what do you mean? Are you good? Do you need me to get someone?”

“Of _course,_ I’m okay; what are you blathering about? Your music is too _loud_. I’m asking you, _nicely_ , to turn it down.” Hermann deliberately ignores the fact that he also threw chalk at Newton.

“How can you hear it though—”

“I may be older than you, but I am by no means—”

“No, no, that’s not what I mean! I mean, how _could_ you hear it? I had headphones in, dude.”

Hermann is stunned. He could hear it, as clear as if it was through the speakers Newton brought in the lab on his second day. “Um…”

Newton, damn him, recovers first. “Oh _shit!_ I get it!” When he sees Hermann’s blank face, he continues. “Oh man, I got it _first! I understood what was happening before Doctor Hermann Gottlieb!”_

“Yes, yes, congratulations Newton. Now, if would you care to share your epiphany?”

“Okay, so, we Drifted, right? And a lot if the Jaeger pilots report Ghost Drifts and lingering side effects hours and sometimes even days after their last Drift. But those partners who were really compatible, and I mean _really compatible_ , there were rumors that they could feel each other _all the time_ after they Drifted repeatedly. It was never confirmed, but what if. Hermann, _what if.”_

_“_ What if?”

“What if this is a side effect? Of the Drift?”

“Newton, that’s—”

“Impossible? Are you _sure?_ Because, now that I think about it, not only are we incredibly compatible,” (how Newton claims this, Hermann doesn’t know) “but we Drifted with a _kaiju brain_. They have a hive-mind. What if, somehow, it _infected_ us? Like we gained this ability to share thoughts and feelings because that’s what _they_ do _._ ”

Hermann doesn’t want to admit it, but neither of these theories are quite as unlikely as he’d first assumed. He’s supposed to be the Drift expert, he wrote the original code _for God’s sake,_ but their Drift was unprecedented: three beings and only two of them human? It should have been impossible, and yet, here they stand arguing it.

It may be a breakthrough, but there’s still more immediate concerns regarding the certainty of the Breach closure. After agreeing to further discuss the possibilities and implications of a continued Drift bond later, Newton and Hermann each return to their respective work. Newton puts his earbuds back in, but Hermann can tell the music is quieter this time. Hermann doesn’t necessarily _like_ his music, but his, as Newton once described it, ‘good vibes’ generated by the tune have bled over through the Drift bond. It makes Hermann feel warm in a way that might justify Newton’s near-constant motion.

When Herman beats Newton to the lab later that week, blaring the same song over the lab speakers, Newton’s enthusiastic “Dude!” keep him warm enough to remove his jacket all day. (The way Newton keeps sneaking looks at him doesn’t hurt either). 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> I love y'all, and please hit me up anytime--I would love to hear from you.


End file.
